In Flagrante Delicto
by SunlightOnTheWater
Summary: In blazing offense. The lives of the Takers from the introduction of AJ to the group through the final mission before Ghost's release.
1. One Caught Red Handed

_One-Caught Red Handed_

The bar was busy on Friday nights, packed with people who wanted to forget their pathetic lives or college students who just wanted to party. Ghost was flirting with Lilly while Jake Attica watched with jealous eyes. Everyone knew that Jake thought Ghost was no good for Lilly; everyone except Ghost himself. Gordon was arguing on the phone with Naomi who was in rehab for the third time. She never finished the program, or at least hadn't since he'd joined the team, and John felt a pang of sympathy for his friend. Gordon Cozier was a good man, for a thief, and he didn't deserve having to deal with a sister like Naomi. Jesse was standing next to Gordon, trying to keep the other man company and flirting with the pretty blonde next to him as usual.

John swirled his drink in its glass, eyes still scanning the room, when someone slammed into him from the side. He stumbled, regaining his feet, but not before some of his drink dripped out on to the plush carpet. Neither Jesse or Jake would be thrilled cleaning up the new carpet in _their_ bar, but it was a small enough spill that John thought they might not notice. "Sorry man." The plaintive apology was slurred and drunken as John looked over to meet blue eyes. The kid had half closed eyelids and messy blonde hair shoved under some kind of ridiculously old fashioned hat. There was a drink clutched in one hand, oddly steady despite the drunken way the kid was righting himself.

Rahway waved off the apology automatically but something was tugging at his attention. It was the kid's _eyes_, he realized suddenly. Beneath the half closed lids they shone way too brightly for the kid to be drunk. John reached with his free hand for his wallet and then cussed when he realized it was missing. The kid turned slightly at the noise, just in time to see John shove his drink on the table and head directly across the room at him. The kid did the only reasonable thing then; he bolted. John took off after him, shoving his way across the crowded room. The kid had a head start and was already out the door into the cold air of the alley in back by the time John made it across the room. Rahway shoved his way outside, blinking at the sudden darkness as his eyes quickly transitioned from the dimness of the bar to the darkness of night.

There was no one in the alley. The kid was simply gone with Rahway's wallet as if he'd never really existed in the first place. John's eyes scanned the alley for any sign of which way the kid had gone. They landed on a small square shape on the ground. He picked it up, fingers sweeping across soft brown leather. It wasn't his wallet but with any luck it would be the kid's. He flipped it open, studying the picture inside. It was the same kid, just turned twenty-one if the birth date on the driver's license was correct, with blue eyes opened fully and staring frankly at the camera. The name listed was Adam Jacob Cole and behind the driver's license was an expired Stanford ID card from the year before with the same name and a similar picture. There wasn't much else in the wallet, just a handful of ones and fives and another picture of a pretty brown haired girl with the same big blue eyes as the kid.

Rahway tucked the wallet away and headed back into the bar before his brothers decided to come out and check on him. Ghost was the only one on the main floor, standing next to the stairs that led to the private VIP lounge. When he saw John he motioned toward the stairs with his head and then began to climb them. John nodded and made his way casually across the floor, pausing only to order a fresh drink from the bar, before he too climbed the stairs to join the other "Takers", as Gordon called them.

"What happened down there bro?" Jesse Attica asked as soon as John shut the door behind him. "You went after that kid like he'd killed your girl or something."

"He picked my pocket," John said, sinking down in an empty chair and dumping the wallet on the table. "Left his wallet in the alley though. Otherwise he would've got away clean."

"He'll be back for it then," Ghost said from his position lounging against a wall. "If he's poor enough to be picking pockets he'll be wanting that."

"It has his ID in it," John added, taking a sip of his drink.

Gordon reached over and picked up the wallet, taking a look at it. "Adam Cole, age twenty-one. Former Stanford student it looks like."

"College cost too much," Jake speculated and John shrugged. "Want us to run back the tapes and see if we can figure out where he came from?"

"Nah," John said with an easy shake of his head, catching the wallet when Gordon tossed it to him. "He'll show back up for this. So do we have a job?"

"Las Vegas, Nevada," Ghost spoke up. "Jesse heard from one of the girls that got a little tipsy tonight that the Fed's sending down more cash to a couple local banks there next Friday. If we can hit it by Sunday most the money should still be there." John nodded, focusing his mind fully on the planning then. He'd worry about dealing with the kid later.


	2. Two Somebody Has To Fall

_Two-Somebody Has To Fall_

"-one person and about a hundred dollars short and you want to tell me it's _not your fault_!" AJ flinched at the yelling behind the office door and quietly slipped the door shut behind him. Mari shot him a sympathetic glance as he headed for Lira's office. He hadn't started off as this, a pickpocket and sneak thief for small time mafia boss Lira Oliza. He'd come to Stanford as a eighteen year old computer programming prodigy with all his expenses paid for by his father who had a prosperous overseas shipping company. His grades had been stellar, nothing less than an A- , and his parents had been proud. Then his father, Howard, had found out about his mother's affair.

His mother, Melinda, had never been the most doting of wives so no one but Howard was really surprised. Actually Howard wasn't even really surprised, just righteously angry. There had been angry words tossed back and forth during the messy divorce over Christmas vacation, including the accusation from Howard that AJ and his younger sister Tamera weren't even his, and their father had left them without a penny. AJ had scraped together the money for his second semester from his savings and a partial scholarship but then Tamera had gotten into a car accident.

Tammy had spent seven agonizing days unconscious and mostly brain dead on life support because Melinda "couldn't bear to lose her little darling." On the eighth day AJ was given the task of convincing Melinda that his little sister wasn't coming back. The hospital expenses were horrendous and Melinda, spiraling into deep depression, hadn't cared to pay them. AJ had quit school then at the age of nineteen and learned how to pick pockets under the tutelage of Marina "Mari" Hansford who had eventually introduced AJ to Lira. He'd officially joined Lira's crew two days after his mother committed suicide. The funeral had been held under oppressive rain with neither AJ nor his father speaking to each other. AJ hadn't seen Howard Cole since then.

He reached out and rapped on the door, interrupting Lira's rant about how "somebody had to take the fall" for the loss of "life and money." "Answer it," he heard Lira snap. The man who came to the door was James Thatcher, the person in charge of nightly assignments. Thatcher's face was relieved when he saw AJ and he quickly ushered the younger man in.

"Here's our missing person Ms. Oliza," he said, chubby face sweaty and very pale.

"I can see that Thatcher," Lira said, her voice cold. Lira Oliza was going on fifty, her short brown hair laced thickly with grey stripes. Her eyes were a cold ice blue and her thin lips pulled into a disapproving frown. "AJ, what causes the lateness."

"Tried to pick the wrong pocket," he said, pulling out the cash and dumping it on the table. "Almost got caught." He tossed her the correct wallet and she flipped it open, eyes widening when she saw the name.

"What is it?" Thatcher asked, face beginning to flush with nervousness. Thatcher was a disgusting man, overweight and bald with a greasy mustache and a habit of leering at the girls that walked back. He'd been handed five restraining orders from stalking girls the same age that Tammy had been when she died, sixteen, but thanks to Lira he hadn't been arrested yet. The only thing he was really good for was organization.

"John Rahway," Lira read before looking up at AJ. Thatcher had lost what little color he had and AJ suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach. "How did you even get this?" Lira asked, eyes wide.

"The usual way," AJ said with a shrug. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Ordinarily nothing," Lira said, eyes becoming even icier. "But Rahway's boss, Gordon Cozier, just called in an old favor. They need someone who can break into tumbler locks." It took barely a moment for AJ to understand.

"You're sending me."

"Yes," Lira said, closing her eyes a moment to think. "I haven't told them a name or anything. You'll just die your hair, ditch the hat, and give Thatcher your fake ID so he can make you a new one."

AJ stuck a hand in his pocket to pull out his own wallet and then frowned when his hand hit nothing but the bottom of the pocket. He tried the other ones and was equally unsuccessful. When he'd joined up with Lira's gang she'd had Thatcher go to someone named Danny Boy, a forger he'd made him a fake ID changing his age from nineteen to twenty-one. "I can't find it," he said, searching his jacket pockets.

"You dropped it?" Lira growled incredulously and AJ had to force himself to meet her eyes. "Rahway probably has it then. You'll just have to go as is and hope he plays nice."

"You're throwing me to the wolves?"

"Somebody has to take the fall," Lira said with a shrug. "You'll meet them at the back of the Las Vegas branch of the Fifth-Third Bank on Saturday, understand?"

"Yes ma'am," AJ replied, hanging his head and slipping out of the office.

"Get your take from Mari," Lira called after him and he saluted her in response before shutting the door and heading over to Mari.

"How'd it go?" she asked as she counted out his take, the majority of which would go to pay hospital bills. AJ shrugged and Mari sighed. "You know if you've gotten into trouble I'll try to help you."

"I know," he reassured her, slipping the cash into his pocket and heading for the door.

"Hey AJ," she called after him and he paused, turning back. "Where's your wallet?"

"Don't ask," he told her and let the door swinging shut behind him block any more questions.


	3. Three A Matter of Curiosity

_Three-A Matter of Curiosity_

John wasn't all that surprised when the door to his house opened at just after one in the afternoon. Gordon had gotten that look on his face that said he was going to do some research. "Afternoon," he said easily, glancing over his shoulder at the other man. Gordon nodded his head once in response. "Have you seen Naomi?"

"Seen her and heard her complain," Gordon said with a sigh, sinking down on the couch next to his friend. "She promises to stay for the full term this time though."

"That's good," John said, shoving the blueprints aside.

"So I did some research on your new friend," Gordon said, turning to business as he pulled a file folder out of the briefcase he'd brought in. "Name checks out but the age has been bumped up about two years."

"So what's the story?" John asked, turning his full attention to Gordon.

"Kid's a computer programming whiz," Gordon said. "Graduated a year early and went to Stanford at eighteen. Pulled straight A's first semester, went home for Christmas, and everything went downhill from there. You see, his parents are Howard and Melinda Cole. Melinda was having an affair, there was a big messy divorce, and Melinda ended up with the kids and nothing else. At the end of Christmas vacation Adam goes back to school for a month and then his younger sister, Tamara, gets into a car crash. The girl is mostly dead when they get her to the hospital and she's on life support for seven days before Melinda gives up and pulls the plug. Mom goes into depression, Adam drops out of school, and Dad is nowhere in sight. Two months later Melinda commits suicide." Gordon dumped a newspaper clipping on the table showing a pretty middle aged woman with long black hair and the same wide blue eyes as the kid the file was about.

"The kid and father are last seen together at Melinda's funeral," Gordon continued, dumping another article on the table. "Since then Howard Cole has remarried a pretty young Caribbean girl, has two daughters, and has completely disowned the kid."

"So he's involved in petty crime for money?" John questioned, just to make sure.

"To pay off the hospital bills from those seven days," Gordon confirmed dropping the file on the table. "That has everything in it that I could dig up."

"Did you find out if he was working for anyone? Giving them a cut of the take?" John asked, already reaching for the file.

"I don't have a clue," Gordon said, standing and heading for the door. "Good luck with that kid John. I have a feeling you're going to need it."

The folder contained everything that Gordon had already told him about; newspaper articles, gossip column speculations, and even grade transcripts from high school and his only year of college. The kid was smart, and not just average smart-genius smart. He could have gone places after college. He could still go places in terms of ordinary crime. John wanted the kid to be on their side, not someone else's. A rap on his door drew his attention and he shoved the folder away under the couch where it couldn't be seen before answering the door.

"Morning Johnny," Ghost drawled, leaning against the door frame. "Oliza called this morning. She has our key into the vault all lined up. Said he'll met us there the day of."

"Do we have a name in case he decides not to show?" John asked.

"Goes by the name of AJ," Ghost said. "Oliza wouldn't tell G any more than that when she finalized details with him ten minutes ago."

"Typical," John said with a shrug. He'd worked with a couple low level mafia bosses a couple years ago and they had loved their privacy. "Did you need anything else?"

"Nah," Ghost replied with an easy shrug. "Just was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by."

"Right then," John said. "I'll get back to work then." Ghost nodded, smirking as if he knew something John didn't, and turned to go. John had almost got the door closed when his friend turned back.

"By the way Johnny, Oliza said that if we bring her boy back too damaged she'd charge us extra." John added paranoia to the mental list of attributes he was attaching to Lira Oliza as he shut the door to Ghost's mocking face.


End file.
